Category: Inspiration

Do You Know Your Creative Cycles?

On By Alice StrathernIn Inspiration

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “know your creative cycles”?

“Cycles” remind me that nature breathes new life in different seasons. Similarly, you follow that pattern when creating anything. There is a specific time for a specific activity.

Every creative discovers their own cycle. If you conduct a quick Google search, you will a variety of perspectives. However, there are some common denominators that involve three major phases:

  • Time to consume information or explore new interests
  • Going on hermit mode and integrating what you consumed
  • Time to create and share (if you’re called to share)

There’s no ‘one size fits all’. Not every cycle is meant for creation. There is no set timeline for each phase of your personal process. Only you determine where you are and when it’s time to move to the next part.

Heck. Your creative cycles might not even sound like the ones listed above.

There might be long periods of contemplation where it looks as if “you’re not doing anything”. As Austin Kleon puts it, “I’m not languishing, I’m dormant”. This stage is as important as any other to create.

It’s a matter of asking yourself: What do I know about my creative cycles?

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Planting Seeds As Creative Process

On By Alice StrathernIn Inspiration, Mindset

Planting seeds in the creative process is a major responsibility. It is the core essence of any endeavour that involves creation. Every effort is significant and paramount for further steps.

It’s also an act of faith. It’s believing that a small idea that was born in the abstract can turn into a tangible form for the world to use or experience.

However, the process itself is invisible to your eyes. The seeds you plant today will grow at their own pace and in the darkness. Brian Eno, musician, composer, record producer and visual artist, has an invaluable take:

My kind of composing is more like the work of a gardener. The gardener takes his seeds and scatters them, knowing what he is planting but not quite what will grow, where, and when.

Quote taken from improvisedlife.com

Not knowing is the aspect that causes the most uncertainty. This is the part where it’s tempting to abandon a creation and move on to a different endeavour. It’s difficult to continue when conditions are, at first glance, discouraging.

While the seeds metaphor is subject to multiple interpretations, the common denominator is to remind the gardener or the creator that growth will take place sooner or later. Every little step compounds to a result, and the waiting process can be satisfying and joyful.

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20 great things about 2023

On By Alice StrathernIn Inspiration

A great year is ending. Since 2020, I’ve been posting 20 things that have been making my year wonderful.

I’m really pleased to see that there’s a little bit of everything. This time, even food made it. Whoa. At the end of the day, experiences are what matters most. I’m glad I could capture most of them.

So here’s 20 great things about 2023.

  1. Celebrating my son’s second birthday
  2. Having my mom around for two months
  3. Creating art with my mom
  4. Playing my mom’s favourite childhood game with her
  5. Writing 100 pages of my new book
  6. Having fun in my writing classes and meeting some great and inspiring women.
  7. Seeing Depeche Mode live for the third time in my lifetime.
  8. This specific video from the concert. You can actually hear me scream!
  9. Enjoying Memento Mori, especially My Favourite Stranger and Soul with Me.
  10. Reading Eva Luna by Isabel Allende
  11. Reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle
  12. Getting to know Kurt Kobain through his personal diaries
  13. Trips to the zoo on Sundays
  14. Paul McCartney’s lyrics
  15. Tuna and salmon poke bowl
  16. Janet Jackson’s music
  17. Rediscovering some old songs I’ve always loved: Happy Together, Kiss the Rain, I Can Dream About You, The Hustle, Reasons, Hold Me Now, Don’t You Forget About Me.
  18. Sade’s music. Anything she sings is powerful.
  19. Alicia Keys’ music
  20. Discovering Neo Soul and Nu Urban Jazz.

Failure Culture: Reframing Mistakes to Grow As a Professional

On By Alice StrathernIn Inspiration, Mindset

Failure culture is an uncomfortable topic in any professional setting. Even if you are an entrepreneur. There’s an inner voice that constantly says “you can’t afford mistakes”, “defeat is not an option.” There’s a constant pressure to succeed almost flawlessly.

If you were to reframe failure, though, your work would gain more depth. In any creative process, missteps, ups and downs, and losses are bound to happen. That’s the nature of any initiative.

I remember the time when I was discussing marketing strategies with a former manager. We were going to launch a new product, and we had clear goals to reach. As we were wrapping up our meeting, I said: “If some parts of the strategy don’t go as planned, then we’ll learn a lot.” His response was unforgettable: “Yeah, but let’s try not to make any mistakes. We can’t do that.”

Failure culture is almost taboo. After careful planning and investment of time and resources into a business, why would you welcome it? You are aiming for great results. However, it’s worth reflecting on two key factors: the input that learning experiences can provide and the idea of embracing discomfort to grow as a person and as a professional.

As President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said: “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.”

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The Power of Documenting Your Experiences

On By Alice StrathernIn Inspiration, Miscellany, Personal

This illustration caught my eye while browsing Instagram.

It reminded me of a place I visit frequently in my mind when I need to think. When I was younger, I tried to draw it many times. As an adult, I stopped and didn’t attempt to do it again. However, Iulia Bochis’ illustration made me remember it.

I was so intrigued and impressed with her work that I visited her website. I found out that her art journey began as she was travelling in Asia. She kept a journal to document her inner experiences, and later on, she started sharing her work on Instagram.

It made me think of the importance of documenting experiences in any form. At first, it’s a personal exercise; for your eyes only. Then, one day, you decide to take some parts of it (or maybe all of it) and share it with the world. Without realizing it, you’re touching someone else’s life because it connected with them.

So next time you feel you’re called to share a thought, a photograph, a journal entry, a drawing, a painting, a playlist, a collage…think that it will reach the right people.

Genuine work finds a genuine place. This is the power of documenting experiences.

Imperfect creativity: good is enough

On By Alice StrathernIn Inspiration, Mindset

Imperfect creativity is natural and good enough.

Anything that requires creativity has a human touch and humans are imperfect. This idea is still hard to assimilate. At some point in our lives, we’re taught to avoid mistakes and get flawless results.

Recently, I thought about my literature teacher in high school. Our discussions in class tended to lead to all kinds of random topics. One day, he expressed his frustration at some students that were obsessed with getting perfect marks. His words were unforgettable:

“In this life, you have to deal with the fact that you’re not perfect.”

He wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. Maybe that statement sounded too harsh at the time, but the wisdom is there. If you think about it, life itself is imperfect.

So why is it worth hanging onto perfection?

Perfectionism is connected to your self-worth and is something you probably have to keep working on to overcome.

Creatives Doing Business

That’s another hard pill to swallow. In the Western culture, this is a constant struggle. Aim to be perfect or go home. On the other hand, in other cultures of the world, embracing imperfection is normal.

For example, there’s the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi. Leonard Koren, author of Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, defines it as “the beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete.”

I love the idea of finding beauty in the imperfect. There’s value in creating, doing your best to give it form, and releasing it to the world and let it be in its full glory with glitches included.

Creations are never complete. There’s always an improvement to make or a new version to start from scratch. After all, wabi-sabi is based on the cycles of nature, which are constantly changing. No creation ever stays the same.

With this concept in mind, how can you embrace imperfect creativity in your daily life?

 

There’s a time to flourish: creativity at its best

On By Alice StrathernIn Inspiration, Mindset

There’s a time to flourish and a time to be dormant.

A time to play and a time to rest.

A time to socialize and a time for introspection.

A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant something and a time to pluck it up.

Creativity is no different. Each step of a process comes with a season, in which times are more active, and others are more contemplative. Contrary to all the ideals of productivity, it’s unrealistic to expect outcomes nonstop.

It is a mistake and a misreading of nature to think that you, a living creature, will be flourishing all the days of your life.

austin kleon

Therefore, it’s crucial to know when to do things.

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A garden in your mind to cultivate ideas

On By Alice StrathernIn Inspiration, Mindset

Did you know? You have a garden in your mind. It’s possible to plant ideas like seeds and watch them grow as you water them everyday. Fred Rogers, creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television series Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, puts it more beautifully:

You can grow ideas in your mind. You can think about things and make believe things and that’s like growing something of your own.

fred rogers

It’s basically like gardening, and it’s no trivial pastime. It’s more than the growing of plants. It’s actually the expression of desire.

Have you ever wondered why certain thoughts are more recurring than others? It’s worth examining why they’re around frequently and under what conditions they tend to pop up the most.

Ideas, like plants, can be dormant in certain seasons. They’re waiting to be activated.

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Viewing yourself as an architect to redesign life

On By Alice StrathernIn Inspiration, Mindset

It’s empowering to view yourself as an architect.

Some time ago, I came across the quote “you’re the architect of your own destiny.” At the time, it didn’t seem so relevant for me, but since creativity and architecture have some principles in common, I think it all makes sense now.

Architecture is a field that requires knowledge in many areas. While not all of us get a deep grasp of the tasks and responsibilities that architects take everyday, we do know something basic: they build. They design.

They plan carefully so that they complete their projects successfully.

An architect doesn’t design a house without paying attention to details.

unmistakablecreative.com

Our daily lives are full of little details that impact our moods and perceptions. It’s crucial to pay attention to then implement important changes.

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Creativity and architecture: common principles

On By Alice StrathernIn Inspiration

Creativity and architecture go hand in hand. I don’t think one can be without the other. In theory, and in practice, creativity can find order, form, and structure through the same concepts that architecture uses.

For example, architecture is based on people and shapes its design and function according to the needs of communities. Creativity is used to find solutions to challenges and, at the same time, it can improve people’s personal lives or work environments.

Creativity is an expression that can take many forms. On the other hand, since prehistory, architecture has been used as a way for civilizations to express culture.

If we think about it, building a life or a career requires a solid foundation; a structure that can shape our circumstances in the right direction. Emulating a discipline that involves designing and construction can provide some great benefits.

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